Well i bought 3 axioms... all in kit form... a 5wt, a 7wt and a 10wt.... I must say the components are very nice... so now that i have them all built time to give some reviews...

The 10wt.... its a stick..... I found it to be heavy for a 10... its more like a 12wt... cast a 10wt line and it was too stiff for it( hard to get feedback).. tried an 11wt.... better... but the 12wt was money... once loaded with a 12 wt it cast and loaded great.... talk about a cannon... the whole line is not a prob.... very fast and no matter how hard u push it it will not back down... its a great rod for big fish and big flies... I wish i lived someplace to take it up against a tarpon...

The 7wt.... all i can say is this will be my go to rod for medium to large fish.. with a 7 wt line its castable but not enjoyable... with an 8 wt its much better... I would rate the rod a 8wt in stiffness... it also was a cannon... cast a full 100ft line perfect... line landed perfectly straight to the fly....

the 5wt.... now seeing what i had felt on the other rods i figured this one would follow suit... and it did... casts like a rocket but likes one size heavier but not as much as the others.. its more of a 5.5wt... also the 5 wt backbone is heavy... i would have no problem using the 5 wt against large steelhead... the rod is not one for light tippet trout fishing...

Overall they are a little heavy in hand compared to some of the high end rods i own but for what i bought them for they will work perfectly... chasing steelhead, salmon, pike, muskie, and bass... If you are looking for rods at a great price that can take some abuse and you dont want to break the bank... These are perfect...

side note on casting them.... they are fast and responsive ... you will need all the belly out the tip to cast.... They do not oval out while casting... so no matter how hard you push the rod u can not overpower it like some rods... I tried.... hard.... and all it did was spit the line out further and further.... I do believe wind is not going to be a problem at all with these....

did some more casting with a few other lines this aft.... found some really good matches... a 10wt magnum sharkskin is great with the 10wt axiom... med to far cast... i did some accuracy tests also.... had my 5 year run around the yard and stop in diff spots and i had to land my chunk of yarn on her.... It was pin point accurate... even at 80+ feet i could land it right on her with little effort... that went for all the rods..

the 7wt still likes an 8wt line... i tried a 7wt magnum sharkskin and a few others but it still does not feel as good as a 8 wt....

the 5 wt was the most fun... i tried a few 6 wt lines all worked but i really wanted a 5wt line on it... so after grabbing a few and trying them i found a surprise line that it loves... a cortland 555 clear floater (old line i had sitting around)..... it matched it great... the rod was tamed down... could still make far casts but was very pleasant close in as much as the 50 foot range...